Memories Writ In Stone
by Dragon'sHost
Summary: Evergreen does not care for people that "steal" her friends' magic. Armada project: 30/365


**I am in love with Evergreen defending her guild mates from a perceived threat.**

 **Okay so. The logistics of Rufus's magic are a complete and utter mind fuck, and I do not recommend thinking too hard about it. I will have to write a fic talking about it in more detail at some point, but that is not happening today. Also, I'm pretty sure Mashima just went, "Oh this sounds cool," and just threw it at us with thinking about the logistics involved in such a magic himself.**

 **But someday I will do it justice. Mark my words.**

* * *

Coming out of petrification was not a pleasant sensation. It left a person feeling disconnected from the world around them - their perception having been cut off by the magic, only to resume once lifted but out of sync with the true passage of time around them. A feeling of always being a half-step behind the world.

It was a sensation that persisted no matter how many times the condition was endured, Rufus had come to discover. The tenth time was just as disorienting as the first.

If he hadn't been sitting, he was quite certain he would have fallen over. As he had on several previous occasions.

Rufus closed his eyes, rubbing his temples to ease the blossoming post-petrification headache. Giving up, he blinked, and peered up at a stony-faced brunette."You know, it's quite difficult to memorize magic with you constantly turning me into a statue," he commented, heaving a sigh.

This only caused icy glare directed down on him to worsen, her heel a staccato on the hardwood floor. "Stop trying to steal my friends' magic, then," she said.

Her words, clipped in her restrained ire, brought the world keenly into focus once more for the Memory Make mage. "What was that?"

Evergreen let out a scoff, and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "With your memory, I would assume what I said two seconds ago would be quite fresh."

"Yes," he agreed, "though I am afraid I do not understand how you came to the conclusion that I was _stealing_ magic. Your friends' magic remains quite intact, I assure you. At best, I recreate it. And only the creation magics, at that. I _am_ a Maker mage, after all."

If light could refract angrily, it did so now on her glasses. "I don't see how that's any different."

Rufus leaned back against the table, somewhat surprised that their argument (and his petrification) had not yet seemed to register in the busy Fairy Tail guild hall, even on the periphery. He propped his head on his fist, and his elbow on the table. The Memory Make mage had to admit to himself his curiosity. Never before had he been accused of thievery (despite the mask he constantly wore). "Enlighten me, then," Rufus encouraged, set on riling up the gorgon before him.

"What you steal from them," she hissed, doing nothing to dispel his impression of the mythical monster, "is their _effort_. You see the culmination of years' and years' worth of training, of dedication to perfecting spells. You don't see the blood, the sweat, and the tears we've all had to go through to get to where we are. Instead, you just _replicate_ it, without any of that. It's theft of the worst kind."

The masked man frowned slightly, insulted now. "You say that as if I've gone through no effort to perfect my own. Believe it or not, quite a lot of magical theory is required for my magic. Along with extensive memory training, and the development of my magic container. Or else I would not be able to handle the more powerful spells. My training is of the mental variety more than the physical, it is true. But that does not make it less than the training of your guild mates."

Something in her gaze softened slightly, and when she next spoke, Evergreen's words were half-whispered. "But is it equal to the sum of the magic taken?"

Now _that_ Rufus could not find an immediate answer for. So he conceded, for the moment. "I do not feel guilt for exercising my magic," he stated. "It is what I chose for myself, after all. Much as you chose yours. I am a mage, just as you are. Asking me not to memorize something - to use my magic as intended - is akin to asking me not to breathe! I also do not see how my magic could infringe on experiences solely belonging to your friends. I do not negate those experiences in the exercise of my abilities." As her shoulders stiffened, and her chin lifted, Rufus felt a smile creep across his face. "However, I will commit your words to my memory. And I will think on them. Next time, we shall discuss it further."

This seemed to settle her. For now.

"I'll hold you to that," Evergreen agreed, now smiling just as frostily as she'd glared. "Though I'll have you know that I don't back down easily."

"Looking forward to it," he said.

And honestly? He very much was, indeed.


End file.
